Far-Left Activism in American Higher Education

Research backs Trump’s claims of indoctrination as academics cite evidence of systematic activism and ideological bias in college teaching

Tokyo, 4^th November 2025 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article.

[Series] Trump vs. America’s Elite Universities – part 6  

Virtually Training Grounds for the Far Left

The Battle Against “Cultural Marxism”

by Toshiyuki Hayakawa (早川 俊行)

See also part 1: Ideological War: Trump Targets Cultural Marxism

See also part 2: Defector: US Campus Culture Reminds Me of NKorea

See also part 3: How Marxism Shifted from Revolution to Culture

See also part 4: The Marxist Transformation of Higher Education

See also part 5: Cancel Culture, Cultural Hegemony, Universities

See also part 7: Exclusive Left-Wing DEI Ideology on Campus

See also part 8: Growing Antisemitism Based on Leftist Ideology

“Indoctrination” ‒ This is how U.S. President Donald Trump criticizes universities, accusing them of implanting left-wing ideology in students. Is this expression an accurate reflection of reality, or merely Trump-style exaggeration? Recent research findings support the former.

A three-member research team led by Professor Jon A. Shields of Claremont McKenna College examined course syllabi ‒ the instructional plans for classes. Analyzing assigned readings from a database of more than 27 million syllabi created by university faculty across the United States, they found that books by left-wing specialists are overwhelmingly used in coursework.

For example, in classes themed around “racial discrimination in the criminal justice system”, Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow is frequently assigned. “Jim Crow” refers to the former system of racial segregation imposed on African Americans in the southern United States. The book strongly argues that drug enforcement has become a modern tool for controlling Black Americans, and its content carries a pronounced anti-American tone.

Many scholars have published rebuttals to Alexander’s arguments, and exposing students to differing viewpoints is essential for developing broad intellectual perspectives. However, such counterarguments are very rarely included on course syllabi.

Instead, Alexander’s book is often assigned alongside works by far-left scholars such as Angela Davis, emeritus professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was twice nominated as the U.S. Communist Party’s vice-presidential candidate. Davis is a direct disciple of Herbert Marcuse, a central figure of the Frankfurt School, which is said to have spread “cultural Marxism” in the United States.

Judging from these one-sided reading lists, it appears that university faculty prioritize instilling the notion that “the United States is an evil, racist state” rather than teaching students diverse perspectives.

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Shields and his colleagues prefaced their argument by stating, “We are not supporters of Trump,” but emphasized,

“Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that, on an important point, he has identified the essence of our findings. University education is marked by extreme political bias.”

At American universities, there are even courses designed to train far-left activists. According to The Washington Times, the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) has offered a course investigating the activities of the far-left group Antifa.

Antifa, an abbreviation for “anti-fascist”, is a global movement composed of individuals and groups steeped in far-left extremist ideology. Members are known for wearing all-black clothing and black masks.

In September, Trump designated Antifa a “domestic terrorist organization” by executive order. Last month, federal authorities charged two Antifa members with terrorism-related offenses for their involvement in an attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Texas. Given Antifa’s overseas connections, the U.S. government is also considering designating it a “foreign terrorist organization”, alongside groups such as Hamas and al-Qaeda.

According to the syllabus for the CUNY course, students are required to participate directly in Antifa activities as part of on-the-ground research. Even if framed as research, this risks involving students in violence or terrorism. The very fact that a university approved such a course is beyond the bounds of common sense.

That universities ‒ funded by taxpayers and high tuition fees ‒ have become “training grounds for left-wing activists” is wholly unacceptable. For Trump, reforming higher education is a key pillar of the “common-sense revolution” he proclaimed in his inaugural address.

See also part 1: Ideological War: Trump Targets Cultural Marxism

See also part 2: Defector: US Campus Culture Reminds Me of NKorea

See also part 3: How Marxism Shifted from Revolution to Culture

See also part 4: The Marxist Transformation of Higher Education

See also part 5: Cancel Culture, Cultural Hegemony, Universities

See also part 7: Exclusive Left-Wing DEI Ideology on Campus

See also part 8: Growing Antisemitism Based on Leftist Ideology

Featured image above: Angela Davis, here speaking at a memorial at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco December 2025. Photo: Funcrunch / Wikimedia Commons. License: CC ASA 4.0 Int. Cropped

Related to far-left activism: Japan Following the Way of China

Also related to far-left activism: Warning of Threat from CCP Fearing Korean Unity

And also related to the rise of cancel culture: Japan’s Dissolution Case Echoes China’s Playbook

Also related to far-left activism: Communists of China Exploiting Assassination

And also related to far-left activism: “Lawyers Lying and Shaming Japan” for 50 Years

More, related to far-left activism: Lawfare: State Uses Legal System in War on Faith

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And more, related to far-left activism: Militant Lawyers Dictate Government Policy

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Yet more, related to far-left activism: Japanese Communists’ Final War

Still more, related to far-left activism: Political and Social Activism behind Oppression

And yet more, related to far-left activism: Opposition Inciting Regime to Excessive Steps

And still more, related to far-left activism: Journalist Reveals Ugly Leftwing Conspiracy

And even more, related to far-left activism: Gingrich: Kishida Joining Communist Campaign

Yet more, related to far-left activism: The 3 Enemies of Religious Liberty

Still more, related to far-left activism: Lawyer Exposes Dirty Leftwing Plot

And yet more, related to far-left activism: Inhuman Government-Supported Mass Deprogramming

Yet more, related to far-left activism: State and Media Creating “Today’s Non-Citizens”

Still more, related to far-left activism: Japan Criticized for Glaring Rights Violations

And still more, related to far-left activism: Bias: No Right to Respond for Religious Minority

And even more, related to far-left activism: Collusion to Rob Minority of Its Rights

And still more, related to far-left activism: New Admission by Top Japanese Communist

And yet more, related to far-left activism: Two European Scholars Warning Japan